The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of paper roll cores designed for use in carrying continuous paper webbing rolled about the core member. More precisely, the invention provides an apparatus for use in the manufacture and recycling of paper roll cores cut to predetermined lengths to match the width of the paper web being wound about the core.
In the paper processing industries, raw material paper webbing is provided for use and is wound on paper roll cores. The wound paper roll core comes in all lengths and sizes and can weigh up to 8,000 lbs. The rolls are commonly transported by industrial crane such as overhead cranes. The cores receive chucks or plugs which are inserted into each end of the core to allow for the roll of raw material paper webbing to be engaged by a crane and transported, for instance, to an unwind machine for further processing. It is desirable to use paper roll cores many times to wind and unwind raw paper material. However, the plugging and transporting operation has a tendency to damage the ends of the paper roll cores, rendering the cores unusable. If the used core is not reusable the manufacturer incurs extensive problems with waste control and costs. If the damaged ends of the core are removed, the core becomes of a different length and is unusable. Thus a need exists for a reliable method to relengthen the core through the addition of a desired length of materials to the shortened core.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,133 provides an example of a proposed solution for joining the ends of cores such that the core ends are reworked to provide a straighter joined core with a cross-section of true roundness. The apparatus provides a clamp sleeve for receiving a first core section and a mandrel sleeve for receiving a second core section. The clamp sleeve is movable with regard to the center axis of the mandrel sleeve and guides are in place to force the movement of the clamp sleeve to occur coaxially with regard to the center axis of the mandrel sleeve. The ends of the core sections to be joined are worked with machining tools carried by the clamp sleeve. The machining tools rotate about the ends of the first and second core members providing machined female and male edges. After the ends of the first and second core members are machined, glue is applied to the mating surface and the clamp sleeve moves the first core member into a conjoined position with the second core member. The clamp sleeve then applies a radial pressure to the joint to secure the joining of the two core members.
The present invention provides an improvement over the apparatus shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,133. The present invention provides an automatic core joining and cutting machine that will automatically rework and join the ends of used cores and further automatically cut the conjoined new core to a predetermined length desired by the operator for matching the width of the paper webbing raw material to be rolled onto the new conjoined core member.